Mogo, East Africa’s leading motorcycle and smartphone financier, has partnered with technology company ZTE Corporation and RSC, ZTE’s phone distributor in Kenya, to expand access to quality, affordable handsets in Kenya, targeting consumers and small businesses seeking to participate in the country’s growing digital economy.
Customers can now acquire ZTE smartphones, including the ZTE Blade V80 Max, by paying a deposit of as low as KES 100 and settling the balance through daily instalments over up to 12 months. Applications are processed in less than 20 minutes, subject to verification and approval, while repayments can be managed through the Mogo app.
The partnership comes a year after Mogo entered the smartphone market, having enabled more than 400,000 Kenyans to acquire quality, affordable devices through financing arrangements that allow customers to spread payments over time.
Kenya had 52.3 million smartphones connected to mobile networks as at June 2026, compared with 27.4 million feature phones, according to the Communications Authority of Kenya. Smartphone connections rose by 4.2 per cent between March and June, while feature-phone connections declined by 3.9 per cent.
Smartphones are increasingly important for communication, business and access to digital services, although affordability remains a barrier for consumers unable to pay the full cost upfront. For small businesses and informal traders, they provide a way to photograph products, advertise them online, reach customers, receive orders and accept digital payments.
“At Mogo, our promise is simple: to put the power of a quality smartphone within reach of every hardworking Kenyan, without the burden of paying the full cost upfront. We serve everyday earners, entrepreneurs and underserved consumers by making the technology they need accessible through affordable, flexible financing that fits their lives and ambitions.” said Pat Sharleen , Mogo Kenya’s Commercial Manager for Device Financing.
Applicants require a national identity card and a six-month M-Pesa statement and must select their preferred device at a participating shop.
Through the partnership, ZTE and its Kenyan phone distributor, RSC, are working with Mogo to combine ZTE’s device portfolio with flexible financing, widening access to smartphones for more consumers and businesses.
“Our partnership with Mogo is about making reliable smartphones more accessible to more Kenyans. By combining ZTE’s devices with flexible financing, we aim to help customers overcome the initial cost barrier and participate more fully in an increasingly digital economy,” said Omar Abdi, CEO, RSC.
A GSMA study found that 85 per cent of respondents who did not own smartphones cited affordability as the main obstacle.
The 2024 FinAccess Household Survey found that the number of Kenyans using hire purchase or lipa mdogo mdogo arrangements rose from 579,242 in 2021 to nearly 1.75 million in 2024, reflecting increased uptake of instalment-based financing.
